Â?The house America was waiting forÂ?

All-metal homes designed by former Oliver Farm Equipment president

All-metal homes designed by former Oliver Farm Equipment president

SOUTH BEND Â? It was called Â?the house America has been waiting for.Â?

In 1949 and the early 1950s, the Lustron house may not have been what all Americans aspired to live in, but it did make an impact on the housing scene for a couple of years.

The prefabricated steel houses were the brainchild of Carl Strandlund, a Chicago industrialist who had been president of South BendÂ?s own Oliver Farm Equipment in 1937. In 1949, his Lustron Corp. began manufacturing these diminutive houses constructed of steel framing and steel interior walls and ceilings. The houses were touted for their sturdy construction and reduced maintenance and were considered fire proof, lightning proof, rodent proof and rust proof.

Most Lustron homes were built between 1949 and 1950, and most were of the 1,085-square-foot, two-bedroom Westchester model. Among their unique features was a combination washing machine-dishwasher-kitchen sink made exclusively for Lustron homes by Thor. The homes were heated with an oil burner that directed hot air into a space above the metal ceilings. Porcelain steel roof tiles were installed shingle-style. One of the LustronÂ?s most identifying features was a triangular zigzag pillar that supports the outside corner of the porch overhang on the Westchesters. Of the remaining Westchesters, few still have that zigzag pillar.

Kelly Rocca has one of the most original Westchester styles that Todd Zeiger has seen. Zeiger should know. Director of the Northern Regional Office of Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, he has a special affinity for Lustron homes. He has long been intrigued by Lustron and appreciates its historic value. He and his wife, Terri, are also in the process of restoring a rare three-bedroom model in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore that was featured last year in Old House Journal. Â?It will be an ongoing project for several years,Â? Zeiger says of his own house, which is actually owned by the National Park Service. Â?The good thing is itÂ?s in off-the-truck original condition; nothing is missing. We even have the rare dishwasher/washer.Â?

Zeiger adds: Â?TheyÂ?re fun little houses and very well engineered. When you work on them, you really appreciate that. You realize the thought and planning. They are deceptively simple to look at, but complex in engineering. All of the pieces strengthen each other.Â?

He sifts through his Lustron files and shows a full-page advertisement in a 1949 issue of Life magazine. Another ad from a farm journal suggests that the Lustron home is ideal for farmers to build as homes for migrant workers.

Shaking his head, he laments, Â?They are so rare. When you lose one, you feel like youÂ?ve lost a child.Â?

He estimates that probably less than half of the original 2,900-plus houses built still stand. Some remaining ones have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Zeiger says that RoccaÂ?s house is one of two in South Bend that are in the most original condition.

Â?KellyÂ?s is a wonderful house, and sheÂ?s done a great job of maintaining it,Â? he says.